Until now, new Arizona Women’s Basketball head coach Becky Burke has been busy building her roster via the transfer portal. On Friday, that changed when Burke landed Arizona’s first two commitments in its 2025 recruiting class. Former Auburn commit OgheneRuona Miracle and ex-Buffalo commit Molly Ladwig flipped their respective commitments to the Arizona Wildcats.
OgheneRuona Miracle, whose full name is OgheneRuona Miracle Akpotayobo, is a 6-foot-3 forward originally from Delta State, Nigeria, but most recently prepped at W.T. White High School in Dallas, Texas. She originally committed to Auburn, but backed off her commitment following the Tigers’ head coaching change. With her size, Miracle has the ability to play the four or the five, giving the Wildcats more depth in the post.
She reportedly also held offers from Alabama, Colorado, Iowa State, Mississippi State, and others. New associate head coach Ashley Odom, who spent the past five seasons at Texas Tech, was a key part of her recruitment after backing off her pledge from Auburn. She is also the second African-born player to commit to Arizona this week, joining former Texas Tech Lady Raider Achol Magot, who was born in South Sudan.
Molly Ladwig is a player Becky Burke is more familiar with. The 5-foot-9 combo guard prepped at Skutt Catholic in Omaha, Nebraska and was originally committed to Burke at Buffalo. Before originally locking down her commitment last August, Ladwig held offers from Nebraska Omaha, Valparaiso, Illinois State, Cal Baptist, North Dakota State, and more. She is also the No. 3 player from the state of Nebraska in the 2025 Prep Girls Hoops rankings.
She scored over 1,000 career points during her prep career and is the Skutt Catholic’s record holder for scoring and assists. Ladwig is also a three-time All-Conference selection and first-team All-State selection in back-to-back seasons, while helping lead the SkyHawks to consecutive State runner-up finishes.
“Molly is the ultimate floor general and competitor. She is someone you want leading your team and, in your huddles, and locker room,” said Burke in a Buffalo signing class release last November. “Molly wants to win and has the skill set to stand out on her own, but also make everyone around her better. She will score in bunches and make winning plays for our team on both ends of the floor. She is a player in which this city and fan base will fall in love.”
With the flipped commitments from OgheneRuona Miracle and Molly Ladwig, Arizona now has a total of 11 players on the roster heading into the 2025-26 season. They are also the third players Becky Burke added on Friday, joining UC San Diego transfer Sumayah Sugapong.